


Soulmates

by dracosathenaeum



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Draco Malfoy - Freeform, F/M, Harry Potter - Freeform, Hogwarts, hermione granger - Freeform, ron weasley - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:07:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27558832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dracosathenaeum/pseuds/dracosathenaeum
Summary: Fate was cruel enough to make your soulmate Draco Malfoy. So you make him work to earn your trust.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Reader
Comments: 2
Kudos: 68





	1. Chapter 1

Every witch and wizard once at the age of 16 will be eligible for a soulmate, this was common knowledge. Once the both of you are of age, when you first connect eyes with them, their name is printed onto your right wrist. It is cruel though; you could’ve met them any day before your 16th birthday but would never know until you met them again.

The Triwizard tournament wasn’t just for fun, but for soulmates to meet too. It was all everyone would talk during 5th year, the anticipation clear the second they stepped onto platform 9 and ¾.

Every young witch had dreamed about the day they locked eyes with their soulmate across the great hall, or in a lesson. Usually 70-80% of witches and wizards found their soulmates during their school years, only a few were unlucky enough to have to spend their adult years searching too.

The most famous couple to date? James and Lily Potter, the Hogwarts sweethearts who died to save their son, what greater love story was there? Well other than Salazar Slytherin and Helga Hufflepuff or was it Salazar and Godric? The history books weren’t so clear about that.

Unfortunately for you, your birthday was in August during the school holidays and so it wasn’t until you returned to Hogwarts during your 6th year that you would get to meet your soulmate. You had spent all of 5thyear watching most of your year group pair off and get all lovey dovey, you were more jealous than anything, that you could admit.

Now two months into your 6th year, you stood next to your broom, ready for your match against Slytherin. You weren’t by any means a child prodigy, you just enjoyed Quidditch and practised hard enough to be able to make the team by 3rd year. Watching from the side-lines as your team got thrashed every year wasn’t enough for you, if Slytherin were willing to play dirty every game, you’d give them a taste of your own medicine.

Sitting on your broom, you waited for the whistle to blow, adrenaline coursing through your veins. Your eyes search the skies for the flash of gold that would signal the end of the game; your one and only goal. The whistle blew and the game started, you were hovering above the rest of the team, eyes scanning the air for any sign of the snitch.

It wasn’t until about the 20th minute that you finally caught sight of it, flying in front of your team’s stands. Your eyes locked with Draco Malfoy’s across the field, he was closer to it than you were, almost right behind it. Luckily it looked as though he hadn’t seen it yet, the Slytherin seeker had been watching you and not the snitch, probably just too lazy to find it himself.

You acted fast, racing towards the snitch; giving no time for Malfoy to catch up to you as you flew through the air. Soon enough he was hot on your trail, the wind blowing against the both of you. This is why you loved the game; the rush, the adrenaline, the satisfaction of finally spotting the golden ball. You were not letting Draco win this, with the scores tied up, this snitch would win you the game. And any chance of beating snotty Slytherin’s, you would take even if it was still early into the game.

The second your fingers closed around the tiny thing, you thrust your hand in the air, snitch visible between your fingers. Throwing your gloves to the ground, you kissed the snitch, the win allowing your house to go to the finals.

“Congratulations to Y/H for winning this match but a bigger congratulations to the new pair! Draco Malfoy and Y/N Y/L/N have just received their soulmate marks! I think we can all agree that no one saw this coming, but we wish you happiness for the rest of your lives! What a thrilling ending to the qualifiers!”

Your eyes practically bugged out of your head as your vision focused on your right wrist. Draco Lucius Malfoy was imprinted onto the smooth skin there, looking as though it was always meant to be there. Malfoy? Malfoy who you’d never even spoken a word to in the last 6 years? Malfoy who you watched bully countless students and that Potter had convinced everyone who would listen that he was a death eater? No, there had to be some mistake.

You flew to him, grabbed his wrist between your fingers and removed his gloves. This was the first time you had ever been so close to him, having never even shared a class together before. He was being oddly quiet though, nothing like the loud, cruel boy you often scoffed at in the hallways.

Taking off the glove, and him being surprisingly cooperative, you saw your own name scrawled across his wrist, the same font as his own name on your wrist.

“This has to be a mistake. I- I have to go.” There was no way, no way, fate would pair you up with Draco Malfoy. How could the gods be this cruel, they must have made a mistake? Someone like Draco Malfoy deserved someone like Pansy Parkinson, someone equally as horrible him. Not you, not you who was simply a quiet student who kept her head down and studied, never a foot out of line (well if you don’t count quidditch).

You landed on the grass and immediately ran towards your changing rooms, needing to get out of there as soon as humanly possible. It really didn’t help that you had the entire school as witness, you couldn’t hide forever, you knew that. But you sure as hell were going to hide for as long as possible.

Avoiding Draco wasn’t as hard as you first thought it might’ve been. Avoiding your friends, however, was impossible.

“None of us are really thrilled that he’s who fate paired you up with but give him a chance! I mean he’s your soulmate, you’re stuck with him whether you like it or not, you might as well start trying now.” You were going to throttle your friends. You loved them, you really did but they’d all found their soulmates last year, and none of them were notorious bullies or suspected death eaters. They were nice lads who got on with all of you well, you couldn’t imagine adding Draco to your comfortable little group and him fitting in.

“You guys don’t understand! It’s Draco Malfoy? The one who’s been hexing first years and who’s a massive blood supremacist? How could I possibly fall for him?” You didn’t know if you were more upset or angry, out of everyone why would fate pair you up with him? And why was Draco even trying, why wasn’t he just upset as you were. You weren’t blind, you caught him staring at you in hallways, at every meal in the great hall and at each Quidditch game. And in each place, you would bolt as fast as you could once you saw him start making his way towards you.

“Uh Y/N you might want to-“

“No! Look I love you guys and I really appreciate that you’re trying to help me but you’re asking me to do the impossible. How could anyone love him?” You had said your piece, feeling slightly guilty for shouting at your friends but at the same time it was as if a huge weight had been lifted off your shoulders. “I’m sorry for shouting at you guys, I’m just frustrated.”

“It’s not us you should be apologising to, love.” Liam pointed behind you and you turned to see a blonde figure walking away, hands balled up at his sides, head hanging low. Suddenly the weight on your shoulders that had just left was back, but heavier and it weighed down on your heart too.

“Fuck.”


	2. Chapter 2

Draco sat in his usual spot of the astronomy tower; he found himself spending more time here than he had before, it was the only place in the castle that he could truly be alone. He had spent every evening for the last week locked up in the tower, thinking about what you had said.

From when he was a child, his father had told him to cherish his soulmate, that ‘no matter how dark us Malfoy’s got, no matter what situation we got ourselves into, our soulmates were the backbone of the Malfoy’s, our better halves.’ His mother and father were happy, they found a life with one another, a happy one. Maybe he was delusional to think the same was possible for him.

He didn’t even know you; you’d never even spoken before that quidditch match, how could you hate him already? Was he that hard to love? Did you really despise him that much? Thoughts of why he wasn’t enough of you plagued his thoughts the entire week he avoided you, he just didn’t know how to fix what was never there.

He wasn’t about to give up though, he had spent a lifetime waiting for you, he would change your mind no matter what. That was also part of the reason he had spent all that time alone, he needed a plan, a plan to make you see that he wasn’t the cold-hearted monster you thought he was. He was fine with the rest of the world thinking that of him, but not you. He didn’t even know you, but you were supposed to be the one person who was on his side.

You felt guilty to say the least. Calling someone unlovable, (whether or not they actually were) was cruel, your friends made sure you were well aware of that. Perhaps you had gone a little hard on him but surely everyone could see where you were coming from, there had been bets going on since first year about 2 people’s soulmates. Harry Potter’s would be the luckiest and Draco Malfoy’s would be the unluckiest, so why was it you.

After all of this, no one could blame you for being surprised when he started sending you letters. Well you assumed they were from him, the cursive ‘M’ on the green seal was enough of a clue. If you weren’t feeling shit about yourself before, you definitely were once the letters started arriving. They came at breakfast every few days, but as the weeks drew on, they turned into one each day. You never opened them, shoving them straight into your pockets to stash away in your drawers, too afraid to open them, afraid of what they would say.

Your friends saw you do this each morning, yet no number of disapproving looks would change your mind. You just weren’t ready to be tied to Malfoy for the rest of your life. You didn’t want any part in his life, everyone knew what the Malfoys were like, and how much they valued their precious reputation. You just weren’t suited for it, the morals the old family kept so dear disgusted you.

So why did he keep trying? If you were in his position you would’ve stopped trying weeks ago. You weren’t sure what was keeping you from opening the letters. The guilt over him overhearing you those weeks ago? Or that you’d avoided him for so long that it was just second nature to you. The whole school knew you were soulmates, but everyone knew you were avoiding him like the plague, they gave you looks of pity when they walked past you in hallways, you wondered what kind of looks they gave Draco. Not that you cared.

As you made your way to the library, you heard rapid footsteps approaching; afraid it was Draco, you start to pick up your pace, refusing to turn around for a second. “Gods, Y/N slow down. I’m not a quidditch player like you, this is not fair.” Whoops, it was just Liam. Smiling sheepishly, you turned around to apologise to the sweating boy, maybe you ought to whip him into shape on a broom sometime soon, he was not looking good.

“I’m so sorry! I thought you were Draco! But seriously, you need to work on your stamina, if not for you own sake then for Mina’s…” Liam sent you a glare and a vulgar gesture which you admittedly deserved.

“Y/N listen, I know you don’t want to hear it, but Draco came up to me during study hall and he asked me to pass a message to you, he seemed pretty upset, and yeah I am talking about THE Draco Malfoy. Even I’m starting to take pity on him, just listen to his message?” All your friends were traitors, you decided. You knew they all wanted you to give him a chance, but you thought they would understand that if it ever did happen it would be on your own terms, and many many years in the future.

“Fine, what does he want?” You could never win against your friends; you had learnt that the hard way in second year…

“He says he’ll leave you alone but only if you meet him in the astronomy tower at 7pm tonight. He really seemed desperate, I think you should give him a clear answer at least, instead of just straight out avoiding him. I mean you have been a bit of a dick to him, no matter how bad he may be. Soulmates are supposed to be a support pillar for each other through thick and thin, you need him just as much as he needs you. Consider it please? For you own sake if not his.” Tom gave you a sad smile before turning and walking away. Typical, he had just dumped a heavy burden on you and ran away, some friend he was. Your thoughts were more confused than before, even though you didn’t think that was possible.

Draco was an awful human being, you had seen what he was from first year, you had heard the rumours, everyone had. So why was the universe so keen for you to be with him? Why couldn’t you have had someone ordinary and nice as your soulmate. You had questioned yourself over this a hundred times in the past month yet every day you woke up with his name still on your wrist. Maybe your only option was Draco, every day you woke up with nothing changed, was a day closer to accepting the reality that you really didn’t want.

18:00

Draco was shitting himself, truly shitting himself. Maybe he shouldn’t have said he wouldn’t try again after this, what if it didn’t work? What if you said no? What if he fucked up his last chance and you truly didn’t want him at all? He had imbedded crescent marks into both of his arms at this point, pacing back and forth across the dusty floor, reciting what he would say to you. It would have been a lot easier if you had read your letters, but he understood why you hadn’t, he understood that he needed to change to have you. He’d do anything.

19:00

Draco should’ve guessed you weren’t going to show. Of course, you wouldn’t. You hadn’t responded to any of his letters so why would this time be any different. But he’d gotten used to it by now, sitting and waiting in the tower hoping you would’ve read his letters and would give him a chance. But just like the past 3 weeks, it was just him in the tower.

You on the other hand were sat in your common room with your friends, ready for a night of card games and firewhiskey. Everyone knew exactly what you were doing but no one said anything but still gave you a disappointed look every minute or so. You were used to them at this point, besides, the firewhiskey helped to numb everything.

20:00

He had nowhere else to be, an extra hour or two was nothing, and he would kick himself if you showed and he wasn’t there.

You were too sober to be where you were. You were used to your friends being all coupley with each other, you had been since last year yet right now you would rather be anywhere than right there. You found yourself slipping from your common room, just wanting to take a walk and get away from the disapproving stares aimed at you and affectionate actions they gave each other. This sucked.

20:59

Draco had held onto hope this entire time, hope that you would give him this one chance. God if this is how people felt when they lost all hope, he understood why people hated villains, he didn’t want to feel ever again if this was what it was like to care and to have hope.

Shaking his head at his own patheticness, Draco pulled the door handle, ready to leave and just drown in the prefect’s bath that was waiting for him. What he hadn’t expected was for you to be on the other side, pushing the door open as he pulled causing you to fall straight into his arms.

You truly didn’t think you’d end up going to meet Draco, but your legs had ended up taking you up to the astronomy tower after you had spent an hour walking around pretty much everywhere else in the castle. You didn’t think he’s still be there; you were almost 2 hours late after all. You didn’t know what you were doing standing outside the door and not opening it. He wasn’t inside so what was holding you back. You took a deep breath before pushing the door open… and falling straight into someone’s arms.

You scramble out of his arms, running your hands over where his hands had been, but Draco must’ve mistakenly thought you were cold as the next thing you knew, his robes were being draped around your shoulders.

“Thank you but I don’t need it, here take it back.” Your hands moved to remove it from your shoulders, but he brought his hands up to stop you before you could. “You’re just in your pyjamas and I have a jumper on, just wear is please?” You just dopped your arms back down to your sides, a little grateful for the warmth the material brought you, and you really tried not to focus on the scent surrounding you.

“I didn’t think you’d still be here.” You broke the heavy silence that fell between you too, the remnants of alcohol in your body leaving you a little more open than usual.

“I didn’t want you to come and for me not to be here, I was serious about that one chance y/n. I promise I’ll stop trying if you just hear me out.”

The guilt that had been subdued from the alcohol was back looking at his solemn expression. This was the first time since the first incident that you had spoken to him, second time overall in your life, yet talking to him didn’t cause you as much anxiety as you had initially imagined. Maybe your friends were right, maybe you owed both Draco and yourself a chance.

“5 minutes.”

“That’s all I need, thank you.” His shoulders practically sagged in relief, tugging on your heart strings more than you would ever admit.

“I know what you think of me, what the whole school thinks of me. We both heard what you said that day but I’m really trying, can’t you see that? I’ve spent my entire life living in one way and it’s hard to suddenly change everything in my life, but I’m more than willing to do it for you. I just want to make you happy; I want to be happy. Whether we like it or not, we’re bound for life, can’t you give me a chance? A clean beginning? I can show you that I can change, that I’m not the unlovable monster you think I am. I might be a Malfoy but let me prove my worth to you.”

“That’s just it Draco, I don’t want you to have to change, because you think I’ll give you a chance for it. It literally has no meaning that way. You are who you are, it’s literally in your blood! You have been despicable these past 6 years, if you’re going to change then change for yourself and not for me. Your attitude towards non-pure bloods, your hatred towards Harry Potter and every other non-Slytherin, your superiority complex; it’s all a part of you don’t you see? That’s not something you can change overnight.” He was biting his lip so hard it started to bleed but neither of you did anything about it, just stood in tense silence as you waited for a response.

“Okay.”

“Okay? This isn’t ‘The Fault in Our Stars Draco’, you’re going to have to give me more.”

“What is ‘The Fault in Our Stars’? Anyways that’s not important, I meant; okay, I’ll change for me. If that’s what will make you happy.” Your jaw dropped, how was everything you were saying going in one ear and coming out the other, wasn’t he supposed to be one of the top students next to Hermione?

“You’ve literally missed the entire point. I don’t want you to change because of me, I want you to change because it’s the right thing to do, I want you to change and actually believe in what you’re changing for. I want you to be a better person for yourself and not for someone or anything else.”

“How- how do I do that?” he looked like a child whose ice cream you had just stolen.

“Figure that out yourself Draco, I’ll give you a chance when you can prove that to me.”

“But you just said this doesn’t happen overnight, how can I make you see that I mean it?”

“I don’t care if it takes you a few months or a few years, I can’t be with you as you are now Draco. And I don’t want you to fake who you are around me. If I’m going to be with you, I want to love you for you, and right now, I just can’t.” With that you turned to leave the room, completely forgetting about the robe draped over your figure until you got back to your room. You balled it up in your hands and shoved it in the same draw you kept his letters in, out of sight out of mind.


	3. Chapter 3

So, you hadn’t quite thought out what you had asked of Draco. Previously, you had spent all day, every day, avoiding him. But now? Now you had to keep tabs on him and make a conscious effort to see how he was doing. His letters still came in the mornings, though they had reduced to once a week after your last encounter, not that you opened any of them.

Though as it turned out, you didn’t exactly have to go far for information, Draco was the only thing anyone could talk about. You had drowned out the noise before, too focused on hiding from Draco to think about the rest of the school. But now that you were back to some sort of normality, you realised just how much the school gossiped. In every lesson, every hallway, every room in the entire castle, there were murmurs.

They talked about how it was karma that Draco was ‘rejected’ by his soulmate, how you deserved so much better. You thought you would feel better hearing people agree with you but for some reason it just tugged on your heart strings. It wasn’t until 2 or 3 weeks after that night in the astronomy tower when the rumours changed.

You were stood in a hallway waiting for your friends to finish their lessons when two Ravenclaw girls started whispering not so discreetly, maybe they hadn’t seen you. “Did you hear what Draco did?” This instantly got your attention like every other whispered conversation about him. Honestly, people had to get better at whispering.

“No? What did he do this time?” Your heart sped up, you hadn’t heard much about what Draco had specifically been up to these past few weeks but some part of you had really hoped that he would stay true to his word and try.Maybe that was too much of an ask after all.

“He stood up for a Gryffindor.”

“What?!” Both you and the other girl had exclaimed at the same time, obviously not realising that you were there, the two girls whipped their heads in your direction, eyes wide open, caught in the act. You arched an eyebrow at them, expecting them to just include you in the conversation, what you didn’t expect was for them to turn and run, as if they’d just been caught by Filch after hours.

Great, another thing you had to deal with now that you were Draco’s soulmate. It wasn’t even 10 seconds later however, that you were approached by said Gryffindors.

“Miss Y/N! You’re a miracle worker! Thank you thank you thank you!” A hoard of first year Gryffindors had run up to you as you watched the two Ravenclaw girls run away with their tails tucked between their legs.

“Uh, I’m sorry? What do you mean?”

“Your soulmate! Draco stood up for us when the 6th year Slytherins were picking on us, I mean he even pulled me out of the bush! Usually they leave us there for the professors to find!” Your jaw dropped open, you weren’t sure if you were more shocked over the fact that Draco was standing up for first years or that Slytherins were throwing first years into bushes.

“Usually he’s the worst one! He wouldn’t join in, but he’d stand there and make the other Slytherin’s do it for him, he’s like the leader of them. Maybe now that he’s nice they’ll all be nice too! Thank you, Y/N!” You didn’t have the heart to tell them that there was no way the Slytherin’s would stop their entertainment just because one person stopped.

“I mean I really didn’t do anything, but I’m glad to hear you’re okay.” You smiled awkwardly at them, unsure of what to say. Draco had bullied them since their first day at Hogwarts but after just one encounter they loved him? How did no one see him the way you did?

“You’re his soulmate, though right?” Their little heads tilted out of curiosity, you had to admit it was quite cute, like a pack of meerkats. “Mother told me people only change for their soulmates and everyone knows you’re his soulmate! So, thank you!”

They ran off as quickly as they had appeared, now you understood why they travelled in packs, much harder to pick on a group of people than an individual. God, that group of Slytherin’s were awful. Yet you couldn’t help but feel betrayed at your own heart when a smile stretched across your face. He really was trying.

It was just your luck that you found him as you walked to your next lesson, finding him sat alone under a tree in the courtyard, some might have even called it fate. “Some first years came running to me and thanked me, you didn’t ask them to do it did you?”

Draco looked up from his book to stare up at you, one hand coming up to block out the sun. “You really think I’d do that? I’m trying so hard to be a better person, good to know you still think I’m rotten inside and out.” He laughed almost mockingly at himself, you cringed at the look on his face.

“Okay that was insensitive of me, I’m sorry. I just, I want to know why you stopped picking on them.” You kept your eyes on his, determined to get the truth from him.

“Because my soulmate made me realise that maybe picking on those weaker than myself is wrong. I raised my wand to turn some Gryffindor twat into a frog, but I couldn’t. Your face came to my mind and has every time since. I’m really trying, I hope that one day you can see that I am.”

You just nod, unsure of what to say. Maybe this time you had been too quick to judge. “I have to get to my next lesson but uh thank you, for trying, I appreciate it. I’ll uh, see you around.” He gives you a small smile before turning his attention back to the book on his lap. You turn around and walk to your next lesson, unaware that the second you had turned around, Draco had turned his attention back to you, watching you until you were out of sight.

⤜ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ –⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⤛

It was less than a month til the Christmas holidays and that meant you could finally take a break from having to keep up with what he was doing all the time. It meant two whole weeks of spending time with your family and not thinking about Draco, who your family still didn’t know about yet. You weren’t sure if there would ever be a good time to let them know, they would have to eventually. But for now, foundation would have to cover up his name, just until you were ready, you kept telling yourself.

With Christmas looming, it also meant Quidditch season was almost over, but you still watched him in his last few matches, and you knew he was watching yours. During the Slytherin’s deciding match, you watched carefully as the other players cheated bent the rules, you were still so surprised how they managed to get away with it every match without Madame Hooch disqualifying them, I mean they were so obvious!

You were pleasantly surprised however when you watched Draco play, he had several chances to play foul like the rest of his team were so clearly doing but you found yourself with a smile on your face when he caught the snitch of his own means. This was probably the first match in his 6 years of quidditch that he hadn’t cheated at, the first one he had actually won of his own accord. From the smile on his face, perhaps he had felt it too, the wide smile on his face was enough for yours to widen too.

During your match (the finals that decided the winners of the cup), you found yourself looking for a blonde in the crowd when you caught the snitch in your fingers. You had found his silver eyes in the sea of green robes and found his smile had matched yours when you had watched him win his match just the week before.

⤜ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ –⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⤛

You weren’t particularly close to the golden trio, but you found yourself walking up to them during dinner one evening, after hearing some Slytherins had gone around picking on muggleborns. You just needed to know if Draco was involved. He was doing so well, you were actually believing that he could change, surely, he couldn’t have slipped back now.

“Hey, um I know we’re not that close but I’m sorry about what happened to you. But um, was Draco involved?” Your palms were embarrassingly sweaty as you fumbled over your words, not sure where the line was and whether or not you had crossed it.

She gave you a soft smile; all the girls across the school probably knew what you were doing to Draco, had probably noticed it, the guys in the school however were just as dumb as you thought. “Draco wasn’t involved don’t worry, actually he was the one who got them to stop.” You couldn’t stop the smile that broke onto your face, maybe he could change after all, and for himself. Hermione had been his main target since first year, along with Ron and Harry, so maybe there was hope.

“I bet he only did it to impress you, the git doesn’t have a nice bone in his body.” You couldn’t stop yourself as you smacked Ron over the head with your potion’s textbook. He could’ve been right, and in normal circumstances you would’ve been inclined to agree with him, but you were trying to look at the positives since you saw the changes in Draco. You owed it to him to perhaps have a little faith in him.

“Thank you, Hermione, have a good Christmas!” You clutched your book to your chest and ran back to your table, unable to keep your smile off your face.

⤜ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ –⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⤛

Christmas break came and you found yourself missing Hogwarts for more reasons than usual. You were relieved to be gone of all the stress from Hogwarts but every time you closed your eyes, you found a certain blonde clouding your thoughts. He was in your life even at home, he just couldn’t leave you alone. Okay so technically this time it wasn’t his fault that you couldn’t get him out of your mind, but it was easier to explain than the alternative. It had barely been a month since you had laid everything out to Draco, you genuinely believe he was making a start but that there was no way he could’ve completely changed in only a month or so.

To change your mannerisms and actions that you had been raised with and had been used to since first year, surely the old Draco was just waiting to break loose again? Maybe that was why you didn’t want to believe he had changed; afraid he would turn around and be exactly what you had thought he was.

Christmas morning came and everyone’s eyes fell onto an emerald parcel that was under your tree. It was the most luxurious present you had ever seen, a letter tucked into the ribbon with your name clearly written on the front. You picked up the letter and as you predicted, you were met with a cursive M on a green seal, matching the colour of the wrapping paper. You quickly slid it into your pocket, knowing your family would make you read it out loud if they saw it, the present however, was unfortunately far too big to hide.

“That’s a fancy looking present, who’s it from?”

“I’m not sure yet.” Lying to your parents was never fun but for now, it was necessary.

“Ooooh Y/N’s got a secret admirer.” You loved your brother, but you were 2 seconds from throwing scissors at him. Thank god he was 2 years older than you and so didn’t know about Draco yet.

“Shut up.” You grumbled, pulling the parcel toward you as every single member of your family gathered around to watch you. It was so heavy you had to slide it across the carpet rather than pick it up, what had he gotten you? And how did he manage to get it into your house let alone under the tree?

Pulling at the bow and slicing the carefully wrapped paper, you opened the box, not knowing what to expect.

A collection of your favourite novels, all signed by the authors. Your jaw dropped, you hadn’t expected him to get you anything, but even more, how had he known who your favourite authors were? This was more than you could’ve possibly asked for, you couldn’t believe Draco had actually spent the time and money to find them for you.

Your family as it seemed, had the attention span of a goldfish and quickly lost interest in you once they had seen you had just been gifted books. This was perfect for you though as it gave you the opportunity to bolt to your room, arms heavy with the weight of the gifts.

You dropped the books carefully onto your bed before sliding onto the floor, back against your door. Your heart threatened to beat out of your chest as you pulled the white envelope from you pocked and slid your fingers across the seal to break it.

You had piles and piles of his unopened letter back in your dorm room at Hogwarts, but you couldn’t add this one to the pile, not after the happiness he just brought you.

Dear Y/N,

Merry Christmas! I hope you and your family are well and that you liked my gifts to you. I doubt you’ll open this letter as I know you’ve never opened my previous one, but I understand why you haven’t. Writing these letters to you have been oddly theraputic, almost like writing a diary. Don’t let anyone know I’ve said that though, I’d never live that down.

I actually wanted to talk to you in person about this but I’m afraid you’ll shut me out again so forgive me for being weak and writing it to you instead, though you’re likely to never open this so I’m just being extra cowardly. 

I’ve realised that, whilst I’ve been trying to be a better person, I think I finally understand what you meant by changing for myself and not for somebody else. But at the same time, I think you were wrong too. I am changing for myself, but at the end of the day, it will always be for you. I’m changing myself so that I can be worthy of you.

One day, I hope that you can look at me without disgust in your eyes.

Yours, Draco L. Malfoy

You realised there had been something else in the envelope beside the letter, you tipped it out onto your palm to find a tiny golden snitch on a golden chain. The books alone were more than you could have ever asked for but with this? You knew what you had to do.

For the first time since you had started receiving his letters, you wrote a reply.

Dear Draco,

I hope you that you and your family also had an enjoyable Christmas.

I’m sorry that I didn’t get you a present when you gifted me such thoughtful ones. (How did you know these were my favourite books by the way?). And the necklace is truly beautiful, I will be wearing it for years to come.

As for your revelation, I can admit that perhaps I was a little wrong, I guess I’ll just have to get used to the fact that anything we do from now on will not just be for ourselves anymore.

I look forward to seeing you again at Hogwarts.

Yours, Y/N Y/L/N

You couldn’t bring yourself to confirm to him that you hadn’t opened any of his previous letters, overridden with guilt after his thoughtful gesture and words.

You fell asleep tracing his name on your wrist that night. That had been the first time you hadn’t winced at the sight of his name on your hand, the first time you had appreciated it, and looked at it with something other than hatred.

draco may or may not have had your letter framed

⤜ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ –⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⋆ – ⤛

You anticipated going back, feeling more nervous than you had been in your first year. Your friends had made fun of you relentlessly for it, asking why you were all jittery and spaced out, but they all knew. You couldn’t shut up about his gifts to you in your letters to your friends, they were just pleased that you weren’t as against him as you first had been. They were all happy for you, they could see what was going on even if you couldn’t.

During the welcome back speech, you found yourself scanning the Slytherin table for a glimpse of a certain blonde, but you couldn’t find him. The welcome speech and feast had come and gone, and you still hadn’t seen Draco yet, to thank him for his presents. And you could admit to yourself that you missed him, a little.

As you walk out of the great hall with your friends, an arm wraps around your wrist to pull you from the crowd. You get pulled into a secluded alcove but even with their back to you, you could tell instantly who it was.

“Looking for me?” You couldn’t help the blush that washed across your cheeks; biting you lip and focusing your gaze on the ground, you realised, you’d been caught looking for him.

“I wanted to thank you for the gifts. I love them, it was really thoughtful of you, I’m sorry again that I didn’t get you anything.” Your fingers had wrapped around the tiny snitch on your neck as you spoke, not missing the way Draco’s eyes fell to it, a satisfied smile on his face.

“It’s okay, I wanted to get this for you but like I said in my letter back to you, I’m not telling you how I knew they were your favourites.”

“Liam.” You had figured out pretty quickly that one of your friends had told him and Liam seemed to be the only one who could hold an actual conversation with him.

“Never mind then.” You stared at each other before laughing. This was the first time you had had a happy encounter with Draco and you really liked it.

“But really I meant what I said in my letter. Thank you for trying and I can already see a change in you and I’m not just saying this because you bought me gifts. I think I owe you an apology for how I’ve reacted up until now, I was perhaps a little harsher with my words than I should’ve been. I’m sorry, for not believing in you, even when I saw you trying so hard and even though I put you so much outside of your comfort zone.”

“It’s okay, I understand. It hurt to hear but I think I needed to hear it as much as I didn’t want to. You were right, about everything and I just hope that you can see that I truly am trying, for me and for you.” You didn’t know what to say to that, so you did the next best thing to talking. You wrapped both arms around his shoulders and hugged him, he was stiff at first, I mean this was the first time the both of you had done anything remotely intimate since you had first met. But only after a few seconds he reciprocated and wrapped his arms around your waist, bringing you closer to him than you thought possible.

He was warm and smelt of peppermint and old books; your favourite scents in the world. You don’t know how long the both of you had stood there hugging but eventually you pulled away from him, not knowing where to go from there, how were relationships supposed to start?

“It’s getting late, we should probably go back to our common rooms before Filch finds us.” You suddenly hated that your common room was on the opposite side of the castle to his, it meant you’d have to split up here, but you didn’t want to ruin the comfortable atmosphere you had just created.

“Would you like me to walk you to your common room?” You could kiss him then and there you decided. But you knew it was probably for the best if he didn’t, he’s have to walk to the other side of the castle and then back without Filch finding him.

“It’s okay, you’re on the other side of the castle, but thank you for the offer. I’ll see you tomorrow.” You awkwardly waved at him before turning around, heading in the direction or your common room before turning and pulling him back towards you.

You rested a hand on his shoulder as you brought you lips to his cheek, even though it was just a peck on the cheek, both of your faces were aflame. “Goodnight!” You all but ran away from him, the both of you having matching smiles on your faces as you walked back. But as you turned the corner, you were met with a group of Slytherins in your year, all waiting for someone. That someone turned out to be you.

Kicking off the wall, Pansy is the one who stops you. “Hi, Y/N! We just wanted to have a little chat if that’s okay.”

“I mean it doesn’t seem like I have much of a choice.” I mean it was 8v1, hardly fair.

“You’re corrupting Draco. He’s a Malfoy, Y/N. Do you understand what power that name holds? I mean thank god you’re a pureblood too else it wouldn’t matter if you were his soulmate or not, Draco would never have accepted you.” She really wasn’t worth your time; you’d just listen and let Draco deal with them.

“I mean really, if anyone should be changing, it’s you. You’re too soft. And its making Draco look bad, how do you except to be called a Malfoy one day when you act like a bloody Gryffindor. We just want to make sure that Draco has the best, and you’re not it. But I’m sure we could change that.” You really didn’t like where this was going, Pansy you could deal with, but 8 witches and wizards? You were badly outnumbered.

“Maybe we should play with her a little.” ‘Merlin save me’ you thought. Now would be a really good time for Filch to show up.

“You don’t scare me.” Lies, you were shitting yourself. I mean, no one believed what you had just said, not even yourself. If it were any other house you could’ve reasoned your way out of it, but this was Slytherin. You knew they weren’t afraid to use the unforgivable curses.

“You guys aren’t even officially together yet even though you’re soulmates, if that’s not a sign I don’t know what is. He must really want to get into your pants if he’s working this hard-“

“What I chose to do is none of your business.” As much as you wanted to believe that you didn’t need him to save you, there was quite possibly no chance of that. He strode up to them, putting himself between them and you. You could see why they saw him as a leader, it wasn’t just for his family name and money, no. It was the way he held himself, his confidence was on another level, and for the first time, you found it disturbingly attractive rather than arrogant.

“Leave her alone, and if any of you ever think about going near her again, you’ll answer to me. Understood?” You watched as all of their faces turned into scowls, but they all still nodded at Draco, looking like a group of kicked puppies.

“Go.” They all threw one last glare to you before returning to whatever hole they crawled from, though you had to admit, they did a good job of throwing you off your balance.

“I’m sorry about them. I really hope you didn’t take any of what they said seriously.” He had rested both his hands on your shoulder, worry etched across his face.

“It’s okay, thank you for saving me though. As much as I would love to say I had it under control, I’m glad you came when you did. But why were you heading this way?” Draco brought a hand to the back of his neck, all the confidence from earlier gone.

“I got about halfway back but I wanted to make sure you got back safely. So, I came back.”

“You know, this is starting to sound a lot like fate. Either way, thank you for coming.” He simply smiled at you before extending a hand for you to take. “I’ll walk you to your common room, come on.” You weren’t about to reject him a second time, so you slipped your fingers through his and wrapped your other hand around his arm.

The walk to your common room was silent, but it was a comfortable silence. Arriving at your common room door, you found yourself not wanting to leave and wanting to spend a little longer in Draco’s company.

“So, uh, this is me.” You were never this awkward, god what was wrong with you. Your hands were still connected, neither of you wanting to let go just yet.

Draco had spent so long trying to win you over that he felt if he let you go now; this entire evening would’ve just been a dream of his. His other hand dug crescents into the palm of his hand just to convince himself this was real, and that you were just as unwilling to let go of his hand as you were.

“Where do we go from here?”

“Well I mean its past curfew so, back to our own common rooms?” You could kick yourself after you saw the look on Draco’s face, maybe now was not the best time for jokes… “I’m sorry that was badly timed, um I don’t know. I mean neither of us are exactly experienced in this whole soulmate stuff.”

He just squeezed you hand, his sad expression replaced with a soft smile as he asked you “Would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me this weekend?”

“I’d really like that.”


End file.
